__SIX__

Her chat with Jisoo lingers in her mind for the rest of the week.

She keeps repeating to herself that it's just lust, even though it never happened to her before. But first times for everything, right? And it's not like they have deep conversations, or send each other texts for fun.

Jisoo's worrying for nothing.

Besides the fact that he has Bigbang albums and his room looks like a gamer haven, she knows nothing about him, and that sits perfectly fine with her. She doesn't want to know about his childhood struggles, his favorite food, or what his dreams are.

She doesn't want to go on dates, hold hands, and share soft kisses under the moonlight.

No, she's perfectly fine with their status quo.

They just need to be a little more careful. The last time had been a close call as they almost got caught by a staff member when they left the room -and yes, she might have skipped that part when she admitted her abrupt blunder to Jisoo. She almost had a heart attack when they noticed the man heading their way, who luckily for them had his eyes on his phone.

Only Jungkook's quick reflexes saved them from being spotted.

She's pulled out of her thoughts when someone bumps into her, throwing her a mumbled apology. She turns around with a frown, but the guy is practically out of reach already, running in the corridor at full speed.

She shrugs. Probably late for something.

"Are you okay?"

She turns back to see Seventeen's Woozi in front of her. They've been guest panellists for The Masked Singer for the past two weeks and they somehow ended up talking after the shooting of the first episode.

They both share a passion for music, so the conversation had flown naturally between them.

"I'm fine, it was a light bump," she reassures with a smile, the incident already forgotten.

"If you're sure," he says with a frown but changes the subject when he sees her smile. "So what did you think of today's performances? The Mysterious Zombie Queen's last song was awesome, right?" he asks, talking about the winner of the last round.

"Oh yes! And that last high note... She totally nailed it, I'm so jealous!"

They gush some more about that one contestant whom they're both favoring, uncaring of the looks passersby throw them as they're standing in the middle of the floor's main hallway where the recording studio is located.

Chaeyoung finds herself enjoying talking to him and it seems he feels the same. It's so rare for her to speak naturally to people she doesn't know, even less making new friends that fast, so it's satisfying how effortlessly they're getting along.

"I heard someone from Twice might appear on the show next week," he shares.

"I heard. I can't wait!"

"Ah yes, I think your group has a good relationship with theirs?"

Chaeyoung nods. "Yes, we're good friends with Twice and Red Velvet. Don't you guys have a group you're all close too?"

"We're all very different, and we're a greater number, so instead of being friends with a whole group, all of us have our separate group of friends."

He makes it sound like they're not all close with each other, but she doesn't dare ask. They might be close in a different way, and even if they aren't, it shouldn't matter.

But she loves the closeness her members have with each other. Couldn't see herself in a group where she isn't liked, isn't cherished. Where they don't draw strength from each other. Where all the members became a second family to each other.

"By the way, if you liked the voice of The Mysterious Zombie Queen, I could recommend some singers if you want."

Chaeyoung happily claps her hand. "Oh, yes please! I love discovering new music."

"I know you'll like it. Here, enter your number and I'll send you the names and songs suggestions," he says as he hands her his phone.

As she enters her number, she gets a flashback of doing the exact same thing with Jungkook's phone not too long ago.

How ironic that just until recently, she couldn't remember the last time a member of the opposite gender wanted her number.

She really hopes they can become good friends, and she supposes he feels the same since he approached her first and is now asking for her phone number.

"I'll try to send it to you tomorrow since I'm heading to the studio after this."

"Oh, are you recording new songs?"

He smiles mysteriously. "It's a secret."

She's about to answer when she spots a boy group walking down the corridor toward them, and she pauses, mouth partly open. Only one glance is necessary for her to recognize them. BTS.

She snaps her head away the very next moment, suddenly breathless.

Her luck is terrible.

Woozi notices them after turning his head in the direction of her stare and she schools her face, praying he had no time to see anything incriminating. As the boy group gets closer, they both bow at them and polite greetings are exchanged.

Chaeyoung carefully averts her eyes. The last thing she needs is to make eye contact with Jungkook. His eyes always bring sinful thoughts to her mind when they're looking at her.

She stupidly hoped that the previous festival would be the last time they would cross path at work, especially after her talk with Jisoo, but of course that was silly of her. The Korean music industry isn't that big, and the demand for BLACKPINK is rising.

Once the seven men and their entourage have passed them, Chaeyoung silently sighs in relief and bids Woozi goodbye with a smile on the pretext of her manager waiting for her in the dressing room she shares with the other female guests.

If he finds her abrupt exit strange, it doesn't show on his face.

She needs to hurry and leave. Her sanity demands it.

She marches rapidly, turning corners sharply when a hand suddenly grabs her and pulls her away from her path.

She holds back her yelp when she recognizes the man dragging her along as Jungkook. She blinks in astonishment at the hand around her wrist. Did he leave his group to follow her? Then she notices that he pulled her in a corner slightly hidden from the hallway.

Releasing his hold on her, he moves to stand in front of her and she raises her brow at him in answer. "We're not doing this again in a public place."

He rolls his eyes at her. "I have a rehearsal in less than ten minutes. Is that all you think about?"

Her jaw goes slack at his words. Did he just...?

The audacity...

He speaks again before she has a chance to give him a piece of her mind. "You're friends with Seventeen's Woozi? Since when?"

Is that the reason why he dragged her away? To talk about Woozi? "We're both guests on The Masked Singer. I wouldn't say we're friends yet, but we talked a little..."

"You should be cautious around him."

She frowns at him, the serious look on his